Elizabeth Bagdan

The weather was cool, with a forecast of a little rain around two o’clock.  Eight people turned out for the hike.

With the muscle power of Jim and Joanna, we managed to open the gate.  The maintenance crew had done a good job on the trail. Two of the crew, Peggy and Jim, were there to help ensure we went the right way. 

There are no  crocuses at this time of year, but we did see some nicely coloured leaves. And we collected sage.

We arrived in good time at our lunch spot, at the top of Rest & Be Thankful Hill. We rejoiced in the fact that this is not the season of mosquitoes, ants and wasps. And then, oops! one solitary wasp showed up.

We never did have to use our raincoats. But we did collect three bags of garbage next to the highway.  Note: Bring more garbage bags next time!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the hike, to Trail Maintenance for clearing the trails, to the landowners for their generous permission. You can see all the photos on Flickr.

Where we’re going next.

In spite of the rain, and to the hike leader’s surprise, nine people came out to hike Stoney Creek. We met at the south access. Many had never hiked it from this point before. We found the grass lush and long, reaching the top of the legs. And it was wet. So, we all drove into Camrose and started the trail from the north end where there isn’t tall grass.

Surprise! The path soon turned into a dirt trail which was muddy and super slippery. (Lesson learned: It’s good to take a walking pole when you go hiking.) 

We managed to get to our destination with no injuries. And by then, the rain had stopped. But we decided that it would be better to continue south through wet grass than return on the slippery, muddy path. The hike leader phoned her husband and he agreed to pick up the drivers at the south end and bring them back to their cars on the north end. With that arrangement settled, we were on our way.

In the Drumheller-like terrain, another surprise—a lot of cactus flowers in bloom! When the trail was scouted a few days earlier, the flowering seemed to be over.

We also saw hawks, two blue herons, deer, and a deer skeleton, and two ruffed grouse flying onto and landing on trees. We ate some ripe saskatoons, dew berries and strawberries.

We finished the day eating ice cream cones from the stand at Mirror Lake in Camrose.

Thanks to everyone who came out and to the landowners for their continuing generous permission. There are no photos this week.

Where we’re going next.